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Tromso IL vs Spurs - facts and stats

A few facts and stats ahead of this evening’s match against Tromso IL....

We are in Norway to contest Matchday Five in Group K of the Europa League, and a win will see us guarantee top spot in the group.

Managerial connection – Tromso are currently being managed by Steinar Nilsen – the younger brother of former Spurs defender Roger Nilsen. Roger played three games for us in 1999. Both the brothers were born in Tromso.

Change in the dugout - Steinar Nilsen took command of Tromso following the departure of previous coach Agnar Christensen on October 1, after a 3-2 home defeat to IK Start. Nilsen was previously Christensen's assistant and is now in his third spell as the club’s coach. He had two spells with Tromso as a player, and also represented Italian sides AC Milan and Napoli.

Coach’s experience – During his first spell in charge of the club, Nilsen led Tromso into the 2005-06 UEFA Cup group stage.

Embattled season – Tromso’s Tippeligaen campaign concluded earlier this month with a 4-1 defeat at SK Brann. They finished second from bottom in Norway and have been relegated.

Top scorer – Tromso’s top goalscorer in the 2013 season was Czech striker Zdenek Ondrasek, who bagged eight domestic goals. He has also scored three in Europe plus one in the Norwegian Cup, making it 12 in total in all competitions.

Home comfort – All seven of Tromso’s league wins came at home this season. They failed to win any of their 15 away domestic games.

Playing for pride – Tromso cannot qualify for the knockout stage of the Europa League due to their head-to-head record against current second placed side Anji Makhachkala (they lost both games 1-0). Tromso are bottom of Group K with one point from four games, with tonight’s game and a trip to FC Sheriff still to come.

Seeking winning return – Tromso’s last victory saw them beat Viking FK by the odd goal in seven in the Norwegian top flight on October 19.

Shooting range – Tromso have had the fewest shots on target in the group stage of this season’s Europa League. They have managed just four across their four games so far – that’s one per game on average.

Previous meeting – We opened our Group K campaign with a 3-0 win over Tromso on September 19. A Jermain Defoe brace – plus a fantastic strike from Christian Eriksen, his first for the club – gave us the points.

Scoring record - Tromso have played 12 games in the competition this season, having started out in the early qualifying rounds, and have scored nine goals. By contrast, we have scored 17 goals in just six Europa League matches.

Clean sheets – We have kept five clean sheets so far in Europe this season in six matches. We last kept six clean sheets in a single season in Europe in 1983-84 when we won the UEFA Cup.

Case for the defence – We have the joint best defensive record in the Europa League group stage with Real Betis, with both sides having conceded just once. We are one of three teams with a 100 per cent winning record in this season’s group stage – FC Salzburg and Fiorentina are the other two.

Going for goals - We have scored in each of our last 13 Europa League matches. In fact we have only failed to score twice in our last 20 Europa League matches – both against Lazio last season.